Key Countries Partner to Reduce Deforestation Emissions

At the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference in Norway on Friday, over 50 developed and developing countries signed a “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD) partnership, committing to spend over $4 billion in the next three years to reduce emissions from deforestation activities.

Many of the world’s leading NGO’s are part of the agreement, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resource Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists. The groups lauded the agreement on Friday, believing that the new partnership could be a starting point for a post -2012 international climate agreement.

The reason that an international forestry agreement could play such a significant role in developing a global climate deal is the huge impact that forest degradation has on climate change. All tallied, it contributes more pollution than all the motorized vehicles in the world combined. This includes passenger cars, trucks, cargo ships, planes and trains. And while it doesn’t garner the media attention that the transportation and energy sectors do, it is much easier for countries to discuss as forestry is a very national issue.

The United States alone has pledged over $1 billion over the next 3 years to cut deforestation emissions.